How many of you have family history?

Kleenex

I actually had a friend say to me, "Wow, I'm glad I don't have to worry about breast cancer, because it's not in my family." I had to tell her, SURPRISE!!!! Breast cancer doesn't care if it's already in your family.

lynn1575

No family history of any cancers. My only risk factor was being a woman and being 49.  I was totally blown away when I was diagnosed.  I do remember reading that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.  At the time, I had no idea it was that high.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dx 7/2009 ILC 1.5 cm - Lumpectomy, TC x 4, 35 rads, Tamoxifen

Seabee

My mother had breast cancer at the age of 45, but as far as I can tell it was a different type from mine, and no one else that I know of in the immediate family had BC. One cousin (out of many) had it, but I don't think that amounts to a family history.                             

wallycat

Zero cancer in family that we know of, but we came from Poland and mom & dad didn't talk much about anything....

twin sister...no cancer...

mom, 88 this year, no cancer

dad died at 88, no cancer

uncle died at 70ish from heart attack (and broken heart as his wife died)...

 cousins...no cancer...

karen1956

No family history here either....I'm the first and so far the only one (hopefully it will stay that way) in my family to have BC....my paternal gm had some sort of stomach cancer and died in the 1950's at a young age....but no other cancer history of any type....tested negative for brca 1 and 2.

flopsy

My family has had my mom, sister and myself all with breast ca.  One aunt has had colon cancer at age 78.  My dad had lung cancer but was from long time smoking.  Uncle had throat cancer also from smoking.  So, i am on the list at onc office to have genetic testing.  Will post back after that and let you now results. gin2ca

Anonymous

I was diagnosed with LCIS nearly 7 years ago (and am doing well); my mom had ILC many years ago--is now a survivor of nearly 24 years without a recurrence !!!!!!!

anne

QCA

My sister had ILC 2 years ago and is cancer-free now.  Dad had prostate cancer for over 20 years and died at age 93.  I've just been diagnosed with ILC.

Kathy

cathmg

My paternal gmother had bc postmenopausally-died in her 80's of something else. Her daughter, my aunt, died last year of sarcoma (cancer in the lining of organs). A distant cousin on my mother's side died of bc at a fairly young age. I also found out recently that my dad's grandmother, had bc in her late 30's (this would be in the 1930's) and had a mastectomy and radiation. She died from it 14 years later at the age of 50.

So does this constitute a family history for me? I don't think the relatives are close enough-and my grandmother's cancer was postmenopausal-different than I, who was diagnosed at 43.

I haven't done any genetic testing... 

marygee

My mum is the first in our family to be diagnosed with ANY cancer. She is 84 and it has metasticized to her bones and cerrabellum. We are new to this. Would like to hear about others' experiences.

lago

Maternal grandmother died of colon cancer
Paternal grandmother died of lymphoma
Uncle (dads brother) had stomach cancer & beat it

No one to our knowledge had had breast or ovarian cancer. I'm the first with breast.
I tested negative for BRCA

egzc

I have dx for both ILC, microinvasive and IDC 1.5 cm, both found in the same area.  My paternal grandfather died at age 81, we initially thought due to complications from diabetes.  His death cert states stomach cancer.  Other grandfather and Uncle on my maternal side died of lung ca--both heavy drinkers and smokers. No other ca.  Actually my grandmother was almost 102 when she died and her sister's were in their 90's.  I also know someone whose sister died with ILC and her grandfather died with stomach CA too in his early 80's.

Alice100

No Family History...just me.  My girls are really nervous...I keep telling them - this must be environmental and my immune system packing it in for some reason.  They are worried I am the beginning of the family history....I really hope not.

Alice 

SAMayoFL

I am in the crowd of no family history at all.  I am beginning our family history.  I have an aunt who died of cervical cancer but that is all that we know of.  I am waiting BRAC testing.  I worry about my sisters, daughter and son every day.

KorynH

My father had 2 aunts, one on his mom's side and one on his dad's side,both died of b.c. in their 40's following mastectomies.  One of those aunts had 2 daughters, each got b.c.in their 60's but survived. My dad was an only child, so we will never know if he might have had a sister who got it so I got tested and was negative for brca 1 or 2. I would like to pursure Bart testing. This goes beyond BRCA. But the day I was diagnosed with b.c. 2 years ago, my doctors told me to stop taking the birth control pill. When I asked why,they told me it was because it can cause b.c. Sure enough,I went home that night and opened up that little folded brochure in the pill packet and it was there in black and white.   I had been on them 15 years at that point. Wished I would have known 15 years ago what I know now. Of course ,every person who smokes doesn't get lung cancer, but ask every lung cancer patient if they smoked....the numbers are shockingly high....just as wth b.c. The numbers are too coincidental if you ask me.

AnacortesGirl

I'm going to be lazy and not list my family history.  Let's just sum it up by saying that everyone in my mother's family (her mom & dad, 1 brother and 2 sisters) all died from cancer anywhere from early 50's to mid 80's.  My sister died from BC at 52.  Mom has had two episodes of BC but early stage.  Both my mom and I are BRCA2 positive.

kira1234

My mother was identified with breast cancer at 80. Her cancer was not the same kind as mine, she was er/pr- and HER+. She is the only family member to have cancer I know of.

Karen

raeinnz

Paternal grandmother's sister possibly died of BC in her 80s. Paternal aunt died of either uterine or ovarian cancer in her mid 40's. Dad died of skin cancer at 88. No cancer on Mum's side at all.  One brother has cancer in his spine, other two and all 3 cousins are cancer free - I have no sisters.  Definitely a predisposition for cancer on the paternal side but I took the birth control pill for 14 years which may have been enough to tip the balance for me

070Maria

my mom died of ovarian cancer with 51 years.

my sister hat bc too.

IllinoisNancy

My mom is 89 and has never had a mammogram or a pap smear.  She never even went to a doctor until she was in a car accident and had a spinal cord injury at 75.  No cancer anywhere on her side of the family.  My dad is another story, he has prostate cancer when he was 65 and beat it, he had melanoma at 75 and beat it, finally he got lyhphoma at 82 and died from it in 6 months but he did not want treatments.  He was a wonderful man and lived a full life.  He was also a very large strong man 6'3 and 250 pounds. I would be very happy if I could life as long as either of my parentsl.

shadow2356

My Grandmother had BC but postmenapausal

My mother died of BC at age 44

My first cousin got it at about 35, she is BRCA2+

I got it at 44. I am BRCA-. My doctors are perplexed. They are sure its hereditary and its just something we can't test for yet.

I have two sisters and a 2 year old girl. I hope they know more before its a problem for them.

busymom7

Hi! I have a lot of family history and did the BRCA test which was negative.  My medonc says that there must still be a family connection, just that science hasnt' discovered what it is yet.  My mother had Inflammatory Breast Disease and died at 46 and her sister had BC - don't know what kind - at 43.  I also have first cousins and a cousins daughter with some type of BC. All on the same side of the family.  I also had a male cousin on that side that died of liver cancer and my nephew had lymphoma at 3 yrs old.  He is 17 and  OK now, that the Lord.  I think that my family history has resulted in me being super vigilant as my cancer ILC did not show up on a mammo and couldn't be felt.  I just saw a dimple one day.

Elle45

Diagnosed with PILC by biopsy Nov 1. No history of any kind of BC on either side of the family. My father is one of 10 children.Hugs to all, Elle

Dawn46

Father & Grandmother (on dad's side) both passed from colon cancer. No other history. Unfortunately I get to start the history of BC.

Anonymous

I too was surprised at the 1 in 8 statistic since being diagnosed!

Though I wasn't necessarily "shocked/surprised" that I got breast cancer probably due to the fact that you hear about it SO much in the media, celebrities, October, people you know, etc.   Plus my sister had ovarian cancer .....at age 30! ... she was single at the time with no kids.  She elected to have the cancerous ovary removed and declined chemo or radiation ~ against the advice of some oncologists.  (It was a more rare non-invasive tumor and there wasn't a significant amount of data on her type of tumor to justify chemo in my sister's mind).  That was 15 years ago ~ she has had no recurrence and she has since gotten married and has since given birth to three lovely children thanks to her remaining ovary!  She does get regular mammograms.

Our older sister is 47 and has NEVER had a mammogram!   She has one scheduled for next week.

 I tested for BRCA ...was negative on BRCA1 ..but had a "abnormality of uncertain significance" on BRCA2.   We are going through the process to see if they will offer additional testing for the rest of my family at no/reduced cost.  When I'm done taking care of the "top half"... I'll start researching and talking to my oncologist/genetic counselor about my "bottom half" and see whether or not having my ovaries removed is something I would pursue.  From what I've read so far... BRCA2 doesn't have as high a correlation with ovarian cancer as BRCA1 does?

Only other ones I know are.... paternal grandfather died of lung cancer, maternal grandfather died of colon cancer.....and just found out my half brother (on dad's side) was treated for testicular cancer in his early 20's! 

Chris93

My Mother died of uterine cancer

My older sister died of ovarian cancer

Anjanita

My mother died last year of bladder cancer and her mother died of stomach cancer but I know of no breast cancer in my family.

 I was looking at a map of cancer clusters at the National Cancer Institute site tonight and see that I live in an area of relatively high occurance and mortality for breast cancer.

AnacortesGirl

SusansGarden -

Overall the BRCA 2 mutation does not have the much higher risk of ovarian cancer that BRCA 1 carries.  However there is a cluster area on the gene that does have a higher risk.  I found the information that my daughter sent  me.  For reference, our mutation is 2024del5:

"Another important factor in risk variation is the Ovarian Cancer Cluster Region in BRCA2.  A mutation in this region has been found to lead to significantly higher risk of ovarian cancer. The region begins at nucleotide 3035 and ends at 6629.  51% of families with mutations in this region have a history of ovarian cancer. But for mutations before and after this region, only 29% and 34% have a history of ovarian cancer.  Our family mutation is before this region, so our risk of ovarian cancer is relatively low (compared to other mutation carriers).  But there is a trade-off here.  Mutations outside the OCCR also are correlated with higher breast cancer risks."

elmcity69

my family history buzzes with this stupid disease:

mother - dx'd at 49, died at 59;

her sister - dx'd at 42, died at 44;

another sister - dx'd at 62, surviving today;

another sister - dx'd at 76 with ovarian cancer.

maternal great grandmother - died from breast cancer - ? age 55?

I have the BRCA 2 gene; my mother and her younger sister were never tested, a 3rd aunt doesn't have it, and the other 2 haven't bothered.

I was dx'd a week before my 40th birthday. three of my cousins - sons and daughter to the aunt who died at 44 - are all BRCA +.

My daughter is 12, my son, 9. This year my husband and I are visiting Yale Genetics to discuss the nuances of testing them (can we do it without their consent? etc).

I pray they don't have this gene.

Tracy48744

i am 39 years old with stage 1 BC and I am also 3rd generation to have BC and the youngest in my family so far to have BC.